Sectional mechanical toy



Jan. 23, 1962 c. L. ESTES SECTIONAL MECHANICAL TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1959 INVENTOR.

w my 5 .W m w a 1 m. MW e m Jan. 23, 1962 c. L. ESTES 3,017,718

SECTIONAL MECHANICAL TOY Filed June 5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. anew/cs 4. 29 7-65 14 rave/v6 V5 3,917,718 Patented .Earl. 23, 1952 3,017,718 SEQTIONAL MECHANICAL TOY Clarence L. Estes, Tanana, Alaska Filed June 5, 1959, Ser. No. 818,447 7 Claims. (Cl. 46-423) This invention relates to improvements in sectional toys and mechanical movements therefor, and more particularly to an improved toy of the type having a relatively stationary body and members pivoted on the body and improved mechanical means for producing movements of a member relative to the body by moving another member.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simpler, more eflicient, and more easily manufactured and assembled toy of the character indicated above, which is capable of being manually assembled of monolithic components made of materials such as molded or extruded plastics, and whose mechanical movement does not require, and preferably avoids, metal parts, such as hinges, pivots, and fasteners.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy and a mechanical movement of the character indicated above, principally but not exclusively, in the form of animals, having bodies, and movable members, such as heads and tails, which are arranged to transmit motion to each other when either is moved relative to the body.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein for purposes of illustration only, a specific form of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an alligator toy, embodying the invention, movements of whose mouth and tail are indicated in solid and in phantom lines;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4, and 6 are transverse vertical sections taken on the lines 4-4, 55 and 66, respectively, of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the components of the toy disassembled.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the illustrated alligator toy comprises a relatively stationary body 10, a movable head member 12, and a movable tail 14.

The body It) comprises a longitudinally elongated tubular form, preferably of molded plastic, which has an exterior surface 16 which is contoured to simulate the body of an alligator, and has front and rear feet 18 and 20, respectively, formed thereon. The body has therein and opening to its forward and rear ends 22 and 24, respectively, a longitudinal bore 26. Preferably integral with and extending forwardly from the forward end 24 of the body 10 is a fixed lower jaw 28, simulating the lower jaw of an alligator, and having a flat upper surface 30, which is horizontal, and which is preferably on the level of the underside or bottom of the bore 26.

The head member 12 comprises a longitudinally elongated forward portion which is contoured to provide an upper alligator jaw 32 and an alligator head portion 34, which together are substantially coextensive with and overlie the fixed lower jaw 18 and together having a flat horizontal undersurface 36. Extending rearwardly from the head portion 34 is a longitudinally elongated shank 38 which terminates at its rear end in a longitudinal, upwardly opening V-shaped cam follower 40, which has a transversely concave upper surface 42, which is rearwardly flared, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 7 to a squared rear end 44 in the cam follower. The cam follower 40, as seen in FIGURE 4, has a transversely convex undersurface 46, which also has a longitudinal convexity, as indicated, at 48, and which is rearwardly and downwardly angled relative to the flat undersurface 36 of the head member 12. The forward part of the head member 12 is made substantially heavier than the cam follower 4% so as to definitely overbalance the head member 12 forwardly, for a purpose hereinafter described.

At the meeting of the cam follower 40 with the head portion 34, and extending below both, is a transversely elongated, preferably integral, semi-cylindrical rib 50, having squared ends 52 at the sides of the head member 12, from which project axial and rounded bosses or pivot pins 54 which provide a transverse horizontal pivot axis for the head member 12, as hereinafter detailed.

The body bore 26 has a main longitudinal horizontal portion 56 which, as seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, is of a flat, transversely elongated rectangular cros section, and has parallel top and bottom walls 58 and 6%, respectively, and forwardly diverging or flaring side walls 62. At its rear or smaller end the main bore portion 56 has a restriction which produces convex rocker hearings or shoulders 64 on its side walls, and in transverse alignment with the bearings 62 the top and bottom walls 58 and 69 are provided with vertically aligned pivot recesses 66 and 68, respectively.

As seen in FIGURE 3, the main bore portion side walls 62 terminate at their forward ends at the rear ends of parallel longitudinal bore side wall portions 70', whose forward ends reach to and define the sides of an opening 72 in the forward end of the body 10. The side wall portions 7i? extend downwardly and forwardly to provide ends for a semi-cylindrical transversely disposed trough 74 which is formed in the upper surface 30 of the lower jaw 28 at the forward end of the body 10, and in which the semi-cylindrical rib 50 on the head member 12 rotatably seats. The ends of the trough 74 have thereon axial and transversely aligned recesses 76, in which the pivot bosses 54 on the head member 12 engage. The walls of the forward end of the body 111, being designedly thinned by the above described bore formations, can resiliently yield sufficiently to enable the pivot bosses 54 to be forced down between and spread apart the side wall portions 74) to admit the pivot bosses 54 to be engaged retainably and pivotally in the recesses 76. Thereby the head member 12 is assembled to the body It with its cam follower 44 extending rearwardly into the body bore 26 through the open forward end 72 thereof. In this connection, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 5, the sides 7 3 of the cam follower 40 are parallel to and are closely spaced relative to the side wall portions 70, and that, in furtherance of the snapping of the pivot bosses 54 into place in the recesses 76, the semicylindrical rib 50 is formed from its underside with longitudinal vertical slots which produce compressibility of the rib 56' at its ends, which facilitates the snapping of the pivot bosses 54 into the recesses 76, and their retention therein.

.In order to provide room in the body bore 26 for downward swinging of the cam follower 40 from the depressed or closed jaw position of the head member '12, shown in full lines in FIGURE 2, to the elevated or open-jawed position shown in phantom lines in FIGURE 2, a depression 8-2, provided in the forward part of the bore 26, is depressed below the bottom wall 60 of the main bore portion 56, and has a forwardly and upwardly angled convex bottom wall 84 for conformingengagement by the undersurface 48 of the cam follower 40, in its rearwardly depressed position.

The movable tail 14 comprises a rear alligator tailsimulating portion 86 from whose forward end extends a horizontal, longitudinally elongated and preferably rectangular cross section shank 88 having a squared forward end 90, parallel opposite sides 92, and parallel top and bottom surfaces 94 and 96, respectively, which can bear against the rock shoulders 64 and the top and bottom walls 58 and 60, respectively, of the main body bore portion 56, as indicated in FIGURES 2, 3 and 6.

At its rear end the tail shank 83 has a transverse, longitudinally elongated slot 98, which extends therethrough and which provides compressibility of this part of the shank to enable pivot bosses 100 and 102, on its top and bottom surfaces, to be compressed together so as to pass forwardly into the restricted rear end of the bore 26 and snap into the related pivot recesses 66 and 68, so as to provide the tail 14 with a vertical pivotal axis.

The forward end of the tail shank 88 extends forwardly onto and above the concave cam surface 42 of the cam follower 40, whereat the underside of the shank is cut away so as to define, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, a cam 104, of V-shaped cross section, having downwardly converging sides 106 which join, at their lower ends, a narrow loingitudinal, and preferably transversely rounded cam nose 108, which bears upon the concave cam surface 42, in an arrangement such that swinging the tail 14 to either side of the body 10, causes the cam nose 108 to climb related sides of the cam surface 42, and thereby depress the cam follower 40 and produce upward swinging or opening of the head member 12 and its upper jaw 32, away from the fixed lower jaw 28; and such that release of the tail 14 enables the Weight of the forward part of the head member 12 to depress said forward part, elevate the cam follower 40 and thereby return the tail 14 to a central longitudinal position relative to the body 10.

It will be observed from the foregoing that the described toy is composed of only two integrated and permissibly monolithic moving parts, which include their own pivotal connections to the relatively stationary body, and that these parts can be quickly and easily manually assembled to the body, without the use of tools.

Further, it will be understood that while the foregoing is a disclosure of a toy embodying the invention which has a fixed lower jaw and a movable upper jaw, that the invention is equally applicable to toys which have instead a fixed upper jaw and a movable lower jaw, and also to toys wherein the removable jaw is normally in an open position and is worked to closed position by operation of the tail member.

Although there has been shown and described herein a preferred form of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily confined thereto, and that any change or changes in the structure of and in the relative arrangements of components thereof are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tailsimulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tail-simulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the body at the rear end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of the tail member.

2. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore; a tail member having a rear tail-simulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tail-simulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the body at the rear end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore.

3. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tailsimulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tail-simulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore, and comprising opposed pivot recesses and opposed pivot bosses severally formed in the sidewall of the bore and on the head and tail members.

4. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tail-simulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tailsimulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw 01] an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore, and comprising opposed pivot recesses and opposed pivot bosses severally formed in the sidewall of the bore and on the head and tail members, the material of the parts having the pivot bosses being resilient and compressible and the bosses being snapped into and compressed in the recesses.

5. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tail simulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tail-simulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a ver tical axis crosswise of the body at the rear end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore, said cam follower having a transversely concave cam surface, and said cam having a longitudinal cam nose riding upon said cam surface.

6. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank having a transversely and concavely curved cam surface, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tail-simulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tailsimulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end, said cam having a transversely curved convex surface engaged upon said concave cam surface, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore, and comprising opposed pivot recesses and opposed pivot bosses severally in the bore and the head and tail members, said body, said head member, and said tail member being monolithic plastic forms, the material of the parts thereof having the pivot bosses abeing resilient and compressible and the bosses being snapped into and compressed in the recesses.

7. A sectional mechanical toy comprising a relatively stationary body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, said body having forward and rear ends to which said bore opens, a fixed lower jaw on and extending forwardly from said forward end of the body, a head member overlying said lower jaw, said head member comprising a forward upper jaw portion and a rearward head portion, a shank on and extending rearwardly from said head portion and a fixed cam follower on said shank, said shank and said cam follower extending rearwardly into the body bore, a tail member having a rear tail-simulating portion and a forwardly extending shank on said tailsimulating portion, said tail member shank extending forwardly in said bore from the rear end of the body, said tail member shank having a fixed cam on its forward end which is operatively engaged with said cam follower, first pivot means pivoting said head member to swing toward and away from said lower jaw on an axis extending crosswise of the body at the forward end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of said head member, second pivot means pivoting said tail member to swing on a vertical axis crosswise of the body at the rear end of the body and at a point intermediate the ends of the tail member, said first and second pivot means being located within the body bore, said cam follower having a transversely concave cam surface, and said cam having a longitudinal cam nose riding upon said cam surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,590 Bowen June 7, 1881 1,160,080 Ito Nov. 9, 1915 1,486,101 Megorden Mar. 4, 1924 1,947,293 Grubman Feb. 13, 1934 2,329,564 Thomas Sept. 14, 1943 2,479,488 Goldfarb Aug. 16, 1949 2,568,374 Thomas Sept. 18, 1951 2,815,605 Connell Dec. 10, 1957 

